"Maniac" (1980) on 35mm Film

I was hellbent on wanting to blast the shit out this movie. As in...tell you what an irresponsible piece of garbage it is. BUT...it's not. It's actually art.
As I was listening in on the subpar emcee at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, he couldn't glow enough at the artistry of director William Lustig. Did he set out to make art? Fuck no. BUT...he reminded you what an artist MUST do to make art, and that is to just make it.

"Maniac" is about a man who suffers from mental delusional, most likely schizophrenic, maniac (see what I did there) monster who murders mostly women and uses their scalps as a way to collect them. You're not necessarily clear on his motive, but a lot has to do with mother issues. The sweaty bloated, pocked marked Joe Spinell is plays Frank Zito, the monster in question.
Frank doesn't have a job to speak of, but he goes out nightly to hunt. His need to feed an abandonment issue from what seems like an overbearing mother overwhelms him into becoming many characters in order to gain their trust, then murder.
His crimes are gruesome, in that they are so random. And this was what gripped New York City in the 1970's. As Mr. Lustig mentioned during the Q&A...most of the fun serial killers are gone now. As are most of the fun serial killer movies.
To be honest, this is NOT a fun movie. It's a mood atmosphere movie that I enjoyed upon reflection. A lot owes it's creepy quality to this film. Even a title as beloved as "Silence Of The Lambs" as you cannot reason with a psychopath. The "art" in question are the long lingering shots (which I'm convinced was used to elongate a thin plot to fill feature space). It is a time capsule of New York City of that time, which it seems a LOT of people miss. Because of the sleaze, and mystery.

Watching with this audience, seemed...odd to me. There were a lot of young people who seemed to have a love for cinema but know very little of its history. It filled me with hope that they may seek more of this cinema out. The crappy film stock and lighting to which this was made is completely part of the mood clean digital cinema can never replicate. A lot of digital hounds would sneer that they wouldn't want to make it look that crappy. WRONG. It is the emotion you draw from the low budget look. It has its own value which is thrown away if you even attempt to emulate in some science lab. And the kids are responding.